Lethargic
by 11Ava11
Summary: The night was silent. It was cold and it froze the exposed skin that anyone dared to bare for the night sky. The village was asleep, peace reining over the village. It was silent, but the silence didn't last long. It was in the dead of night when she awoke. But when she awoke, darkness awoke with her. What darkness lies in the shadow of the leaf village?
1. A One Toned Song

Temari took a sharp intake of breath as her eyes flew open. The air was cold and crisp, nipping at whatever skin that might be exposed to the brisk night air. Temari sat straight, seeing she had one of those hospital dresses on and her hair was loose. Temari's mind was groggy and it was hard for her to place things. She started breathing heavily as she looked at her unfamiliar surroundings.

Temari was confused as to why she was in a hospital room, she had no physical injuries she could see, yet she was wired up to a machine that beeped every time her heart pumped. Signalling she's alive. The machine's beeping got faster as her heart pounded faster in her chest. Why was she in a hospital? What was wrong with her?

Temari looked around. She was alone in the hospital room. All the beds around her bed where empty. Why was she alone? Where was everyone?

An eerie atmosphere hung over the dark room as the light of the full moon shone through the closed window. Temari gritted her teeth and ran a hand through her hair as she calmed herself down. Temari's wild eyes focused again as she slowed her breathing. Her eyes travelled to the needle in her arm. She had one of two chooses, either she stays in this ominous hospital room or she can get the hell out this hospital.

The answer was as clear as crystal to Temari... She was getting out.

Temari didn't know why but she felt like escaping out the window was her best option. She just had this feeling of dread about leaving through the door like a normal person. Guess she isn't a normal person then...

Temari ripped off all the wires that were attached to her making the heart monitor's beeping melt into one never-ending sound. Never varying in frequency and not stopping. The noise only agitated Temari's feeling of dread even more. Temari ripped the tape of her arm that kept the needle in place then pulled out the needle in her arm, allowing it to drop to the ground.

Temari jumped out the hospital bed, but as soon as her bare feet touched the ground she lost her footing. Temari scowled as she tipped forward and landed on the cold floor. Why were her muscles so weak?

Temari gritted her teeth as she pushed herself up. She took hold of the bed next to her and pulled herself up, grunting as she willed her legs to work properly. She needed to get away...

The heart monitor screeched it's one toned song as Temari leaned on every object to the window for support. She didn't know why, but she had to escape. All of this was wrong...

Temari was panting by the time she reached the window, it was like she hasn't moved a single muscle in years and now they were screaming at her to give them a break. Temari scoffed at her weak muscles, she wasn't going to be stopped just because her muscles were lazy.

Temari grunted as she pushed herself up to a sitting position on the window. Temari panted as she watched the door suddenly fly open. Nurses streamed into the room rushing to her vacant bed, only to realise it was empty. They were immobilized by confusion for a moment before they started looking around.

That's when they saw Temari sitting on the window. They gasped as they saw their patient committing something dangerous, however, Temari only smirked at them before she leaned back and flew out the room. She did a backflip in the air and landed on the ground not very gracefully. Temari yelped in pain as she hit the ground hard, her muscles telling her she wasn't used to dropping out of a two-story window.

Temari stood up with a grunt as she jogged with a limp to heaven knows where. She was alone. She was cold. And she was lost in a strange village. The moonlight lit up the village as Temari jogged through it with her bare arms and legs, the cold turning her skin blue. But that didn't stop her.

However, she still didn't know where the hell she was. Nothing in this village where familiar. The streets where completely empty and every shop was closed. The village was asleep. It signalled to Temari that it was the unholy hours after 12 when nothing good ever happened... However, a child's voice suddenly pierced the night.

"Mom?" The child asked in pure shock making Temari spin around to look at the child.

His voice sounds deafening in the silent night.

 **xXx**

Peaceful silence hung over the Uchiha residence as all the members of the household slept soundly, however that peaceful silence was soon interrupted by rapped tapping. It confused Sakura as to who the hell would be knocking at her door 2 o'clock in the night, her mind couldn't grasp an answer. She contemplated whether or not she should ignore it and go back to sleep or answer it.

She didn't know whether Sasuke was awake or not because he was silent and didn't move. Maybe he was still asleep even if she was a heavier sleeper than him. Sakura sighed, she probably should answer the door before the inconsiderate bastard at the door woke up Sasuke and Sarada.

"Sakura, there's someone at the door." Sasuke said quietly, not really surprising Sakura.

Guess he was awake after all. She wanted to give him a sarcastic answer like 'no shit Sherlock' but ultimately she refrained from being sarcastic.

"I'll go get it." Sakura said with a heavy sighed.

She was really tired and didn't feel like leaving the warmth of the bed she shared with Sasuke. It really was cold outside and her bed seduced her into not leaving.

"Don't worry about it, I'll get it. You've had a long day at the hospital, go back to sleep." Sasuke said as he leaned over to her and kissed her temple before he left the warmth of the bed and walked to the front door.

Leaving a smiling Sakura to sleep further. Sasuke walked irritably to the front door. He swears if it was Naruto that was at the door he'll kill him because not only did he wake Sakura and himself up, but now he also had to climb out his warm bed to confront the person at the door and damn was it cold outside.

Sasuke reached the front door and unlocked it, swinging the door open as he glared at the person at the front door.

"What do you want?" Sasuke said at the unknown woman at his door.

However, he must say she does look a lot like a nurse from a hospital, judging from the nurse uniform she's wearing that peaked slightly from the coat she was wearing above it. The woman was panting as she tried to get as much air into her lungs, creating clouds with each heavy breath she took. It looked like she just ran a marathon.

"I'm sorry to intrude at a time like this, but I need to speak to lady Sakura." The woman said, panting between each word.

"Why?" Sasuke asked bluntly, not giving any indication of letting the woman in.

"I think it'll be better if lady Sakura is here to hear it too." The woman said seriously as she started catching her breath.

"Fine." Sasuke said with a heavy sigh, not feeling in the mood to drag it out of her, he just wanted to go back to sleep again.

Sasuke stepped out the way and allowed the woman in as he closed the door after she came in. Sasuke led the way to a lounge where he could leave her to wait.

He would've called Sakura from the lounge but he didn't want to wake Sarada up so he left the woman there and walked back to the master bedroom. Sasuke walked over to Sakura who went back to sleep and crouched in front of her face. She was sleeping on the left side of the bed on her right side. Her hair fell across her peaceful face while she slowly breathed in and out.

"Sakura, wake up." Sasuke said gently as he pushed the hair out her face softly.

He knew it wouldn't take much to wake her up because she was awake a few minutes ago and nobody except Shikamaru could fall into a deep sleep so fast. Sakura's eyes fluttered open as she stared in the eyes of the man she loves.

"A woman is here and is adamant on speaking with you." Sasuke said.

"Guess I should get up then." Sakura said with a sigh as she sat up while Sasuke stood.

He walked over to where Sakura's robe was while she climbed out the bed. He walked towards Sakura and held the robe to her.

"Wear this, it's cold." Sasuke said bluntly as Sakura took the robe with a smile.

"Thank you." Sakura said as she put her robe on and followed Sasuke to the lounge.

Sakura frowned as soon as she saw the woman. It was one of the nurses from the hospital. Why would she be here at this time of night?

"Lady Sakura." The nurse said, standing up urgently as soon as she saw the nurse.

"Amari? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked with a surprised voice.

This couldn't be good.

"Temari Nara has woken up and escaped from the hospital." The nurse informed Sakura.

Sasuke lifted his eyebrow in curiosity while Sakura's eyes widened in shock before her face turned into a scowl.

"Great, the only time Shikamaru is gone she wakes up..." Sakura said with a sigh.

"How did she escape?" Sakura asked seriously.

"She jumped out the two-story window." The nurse said making Sakura sigh.

"That sounds exactly like something she'll do, but how did she manage to do that? She's been in a coma for 5 years, she should be struggling to walk never mind jump out a window." Sakura said rubbing her temple.

Sakura sighed in exhaustion.

"I'm going to get dressed then we're going to search for Temari Nara." Sakura said determinedly.

"I'll come with you." Sasuke said as he looked at Sakura.

"No, stay here. I don't want Sarada to wake up and no one's here." Sakura said as she kissed his cheek before she left to get changed.

Sasuke sat in silence and watched the woman who interrupted his sleep in front of him while Sakura changed. It took a few minutes before Sakura came back but when she returned she wasted no time in leaving. Sakura left into the cold night with the nurse, leaving Sasuke in the dark silent house. Sasuke switched off the light of the lounge and walked back to the master bedroom to sleep again.

Allowing the warmth which the bed produced to envelop him as sleep slowly took over his mind again.

Sakura jogged back to the hospital with the nurse to talk to the nurses who saw Temari escape. It was freezing in Konoha, especially at this time of night. Sakura was actually quite surprised that it wasn't snowing. She slowed her pace and walked into the hospital with authority as the nurse trailed behind her. The nurse was panting as sweat covered her face, but because Sakura was a ninja she had more stamina and the jog didn't tire her.

Immediately as Sakura entered the hospital a group of nurses rushed to her.

"Are you the group that saw her escape?" Sakura asked.

"Yes." One of the nurses nodded.

"What made you aware that she was awake?" Sakura asked.

"Her heart monitor signalled that her heart stopped so we rushed into the room, it turns out she just unplugged herself." The nurse answered.

"Temari was in a coma for 5 years, if she doesn't have brain damage she's supposed to find it hard to move." Sakura said with a frown, she was worried about Temari.

It's not safe to wander around the village at 2 o'clock at night straight after waking up from a five-year coma.

"Her brain seemed to be functioning normally, she was just having trouble moving, naturally." The nurse said.

"Still, we need to find her to monitor her brain and to check if everything is fine. Nobody who went through what she did is okay after a five-year coma." Sakura said seriously.

"Split into groups and find her. Take sedatives with you for in case she gets out of control. Remember Temari Nara is a skilled shinobi and is very dangerous if she wants to be." Sakura said making the nurses gulp from nervousness.

They all prayed they weren't the unlucky ones who would find Temari. Hopefully, Sakura would be the one to find her first. Sakura turned around and headed out the hospital while all the nurses scrambled to get sedatives before they left to find Temari.

Sakura dashed to the Nara residence. She'd probably return to her home first, right?

 **xXx**

"Mom?" The child asked shocked while Temari spun around to look at the child.

Temari looked around before looking at the child again, he had his hands in his pockets as he stared at her in shock.

"Who me?" Temari asked as she pointed at herself.

"Who else?" The boy said in a confused voice as his hands slipped out his pockets.

"There must be some mistake..." Temari said as she stared at the boy.

Who was this boy? They stared at each other for the longest time before the child's eyebrows furrowed in worry as his voice broke the silence again.

"Mom... do you know what your name is?" The boy asked, Temari could see the boy was holding his breath in anticipation as he awaited her answer.

She didn't want to disappoint the boy, but she knew for a fact that her answer would sadden him.

"No, I don't." Temari said with soft eyes as she saw his face fall.

It wasn't the answer the boy had been hoping for.

"Let's go to uncle Chouji, he'll know what to do." The boy said as he collected himself and took her wrist.

Dragging her somewhere she didn't know.

"Why should I follow you?" Temari said, her defiance kicking in.

"Because I'm your son, trust me, mom." The boy said as he turned around to give her a smile that strangely made her heart feel warm.

"I'm sorry." Temari said, she felt bad.

If what this kid was saying is true then it meant she forgot her own son. A mother should never forget her own child, let alone his name.

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. Remember that." The boy said dragging her to a nearby house.

"Who's house is this?" Temari asked as they stopped in front of a door.

"Uncle Chouji's." The boy answered lazily as he knocked loudly on the door.

"Is it okay to wake them up at this hour?" Temari asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm staying with them at the time being." The boy shrugged.

"You sneaked out their house? And where is your father?" Temari asked in disapproval.

"Yes and he went on a mission to help the Hokage with something, that's why uncle Chouji is taking care of me." The boy said with a sigh as he knocked again.

"How long has he been gone?" Temari asked with a soft voice.

"Only two days, he's supposed to be back in another two days." The boy said knocking again, this time more urgently.

He didn't want his mother to get hypothermia, after all, she was standing outside in the cold with nothing but a hospital gown.

"So he's not neglecting you or anything?" Temari asked seriously making the boy laugh slightly.

"He might be lazy but he'll never do anything like that. After all, you'll kick his ass if he does something like that." The boy laughed making Temari smile.

However, after a few seconds, she smacked him over his head.

"Ow! What was that for?" The boy asked as he turned around to her clutched his head in pain.

"No swearing." Temari said sternly as she looked at her supposed son.

If he was truly her son, she had the right to discipline him. However, before the boy could say something the door to the house slowly opened to reveal a tired woman with red hair and yellow eyes.

"Can I..." She started to say until her eyes landed on Temari and the boy in front of her, making her eyes widen, now fully awake.

"Finally." Shikadai said with a sigh as he stood behind his mom and pushed her inside the warm house while the woman stared at them with wide eyes.

"Temari... when did you get out of your coma?" The woman said in pure surprise.

"I was in a coma?" Temari said in shock as her eyes widened.

"It's freezing, she needs a blanket." The boy said with worry as he looked at the yellow-eyed woman.

"Right, I'll go wake Chouji up. You can get a blanket, you know where they are." The woman said as she snapped out of her daze and rushed to the master bedroom while the boy rushed to get a blanket for his mother, leaving Temari to sit at the dining table alone.

She was in a coma... But for how long? How did this happen?

The boy came back first and wrapped the warm blanket around her. Warming her up almost immediately. After that, the woman returned with a fat man she assumed was Chouji.

"Temari, I can't believe this." Chouji said stunned as he walked to her, but Temari stayed silent.

They were all strangers to her.

"Wait, Shikadai what where you doing outside?" Karui asked crossed as she looked over to shikadai who sat next to his mother, making him cringe.

"He snuck out." Temari said bluntly as she spoke for the first time since she entered the strange house.

"I'm so sorry Temari. I thought he would be too lazy to sneak out." Karui said apologetically.

"It's not a big deal. After all, how can I reprimand him when I did the exact same thing." Temari said with a shrug.

"You snuck out the hospital?" Shikadai asked with a raised eyebrow while Temari nodded her head.

"We should get you back to the hospital then." Chouji said.

"No, I'm not going back." Temari said seriously as she stared Chouji down.

"But you have to." Chouji said with desperate eyes.

He didn't want anything bad happening to his best friend's wife.

"I said no!" Temari said banging her fist on the table.

"What's going on? Who's this?" A little girl asked sleepily as she entered the room.

Temari turned her head around and stared at the child as the child stared back.

"It's alright honey, this is Shikadai's mom." The yellow-eyed woman said as she bent down in front of who Temari assumed were her daughter.

The girls eyed widened as she stared at Temari in surprise. Sure she had seen Temari on a few occasions when her dad would go with Shikadai's dad to visit Temari and she would go with them and shikadai, but she has never seen Shikadai's mom awake.

"Let's get you back to bed." The yellow-eyed woman said as she took the girls hand and lead her back to her room, however, her eyes never left Temari.

Temari turned back around to stare Chouji down who sat across from her as soon as the little girl was out of eyesight.

"Watch this uncle Chouji... Mom, what is the woman's name with the yellow eyes and red hair?" Shikadai said as he turned his eyes to Temari.

"I don't know, nobody mentioned her name." Temari said with a shrug making Chouji's eyes widen slightly in disbelief.

"If that doesn't prove it this will... Mom, what dad's name?" Shikadai asked making Temari sigh.

"What's with all these questions kid, you're giving me a headache." Temari said annoyed.

"Just answer it, mom." Shikadai said as he sighed as well.

"I don't know! I don't know where I am. I don't know who this guy is, the only reason I know his name is because you mentioned his name and last but not least the only reason I know your name and my own is because the woman mentioned it." Temari said frustrated making Chouji's eyes fully widen.

She didn't know Shikamaru's name...

"She has amnesia uncle Chouji." Shikadai said as he stared seriously at Chouji.


	2. Amnesia

Chouji's eyes where fully widened now as he leaned back in his chair stunned. He didn't know whether to be happy Temari was finally awake after five years or the be sad because she had amnesia. However, it didn't really surprise Chouji that much that she had amnesia. After all, he would be more surprised if her mind had nothing wrong with it. After what happened to her it was a miracle that she only had amnesia and nothing else.

"What do we do uncle Chouji?" Shikadai asked with a troubled sigh.

"We take her back to the hospital." Chouji said firmly as he crossed his arms.

He could sense that the last thing Temari wanted to do was to go back to the hospital, but that didn't matter to Chouji. When his best friend wasn't in the village he had an unspoken duty to take care of his family in his absence.

"I told you, I'm not going back." Temari said glaring at Chouji.

"Why? What's wrong with the hospital?" Chouji asked.

"I just don't want to go back." Temari said.

"Mom, please just go back to the hospital. Sarada's mom is a good doctor and can help with your amnesia." Shikadai said looking at his mother.

"Shikadai is your name right?" Temari asked as her tone softened.

"Go back to your bed and sleep Shikadai." Temari said in a soft yet firm way.

"But mom..." shikadai tried to argue, but got stopped.

"Listen to your mom, Shikadai." Chouji said, his voice just as firm.

Shikadai looked between the two adults, sighed then stood up and silently walked to the Akimitchi's guest room where he stayed. However, Temari and Chouji stared each other down, Temari's glare more potent than Chouji's.

"Should we take this outside?" Chouji asked, failing at this stare down.

He wasn't a scary person that started fights, Temari was that person...

"I think that'll be best." Temari said as she pushed herself up since she was still struggling to stand on her own.

"If that's how you want it." Chouji said with a sigh as he stood up and walked out the front door followed by Temari.

Just then the yellow-eyed woman came back out to the kitchen. She stopped as she watched the two walk outside. She sighed then walked to the door, leaning on the door frame as she watched the two stand opposite each other. This was so unlike Chouji...

She crossed her arms to protect herself from the cold as she watched Temari win the staring competition. Temari kept the blanket that was given to her because even she couldn't withstand the cold.

"This is ridiculous Chouji, just grab her and take her back to the hospital." The yellow-eyed woman said with a much more tougher look than Chouji.

"Karui..." Chouji started with a sigh, but she gave him no chance to speak.

"You know Temari, Chouji. She's not going anywhere without a fight and the kids are in the house trying to sleep. Besides Sakura is probably worried sick about Temari right now." Karui said with a scoff making Chouji sigh.

"Fine." Chouji said with a sigh as he enlarged his right hand.

"I'm not going down without a fight." Temari said in a hard tone.

"We weren't expecting you to go quietly." Karui said with crossed arms.

Temari jumped into action, discarding her blanket, but Chouji could see she was more sluggish than she was before she went into the coma, but he didn't blame her, he probably wouldn't even be able to get up after sleeping for five years. Chouji swiped his giant hand to Temari to grab her and end this quickly, but Temari just as quickly jumped up and landed on top his hand.

She ran as gracefully and balanced as she possibly could, but that seemed somewhat challenging for Temari. Temari scowled as she lost her balance however she wasn't going down alone. She was close enough to land a kick to Chouji's head. Temari swept her leg in the air to Chouji's head, smirking at him as he scowled at her.

However, her leg never connected to Chouji's head. Karui stood behind Chouji and blocked Temari's leg with her right arm. Now Temari was the one scowling and Karui was the one smirking. Karui grabbed her leg with both arms and tossed Temari overhead, but let go when she was above their head making her fly through the air. Karui didn't want to slam her into the ground.

She just wanted her immobilized.

"Quickly, grab her!" Karui said as she softly smacked Chouji's back repeatedly so he could move faster.

Chouji ignored Karui's furious smacking as he turned around and grabbed Temari while she was still flying through the air. Temari scowled at them as she was trapped in Chouji's hand.

"Nice catch." Karui said with a smile while Chouji smiled back at her.

Temari squirmed in Chouji's hand as she tried to escape, but it proved futile. She was captured.

"What's going on here?" A female voice asked as she dropped from the roofs next to Chouji and Karui.

"Sakura..." Chouji said surprised.

The woman had pink shoulder length hair, Temari reckoned that's where she got her name from and a green diamond on her forehead. She wore a pink coat over long brown pants with black shinobi sandals that had a heel to them. Sakura looked over to what Chouji had in his hand and once her eyes landed on Temari her eyes widened.

"You found Temari!" Sakura said happily, a wave of relief flooding over her.

"Actually Shikadai found her." Karui replied.

"However this whole situation comes back to my first question, what's going on here?" Sakura asked as she motioned at Chouji holding Temari captive in his hand.

"We wanted her to go back to the hospital but she refused." Chouji answered.

"Why?" Sakura asked confused.

"Ask her." Karui said nodding her head to Temari.

"Why didn't you stay at the hospital?" Sakura asked as she walked over to Temari.

"Because I didn't want to be alone." Temari said as she reverted her eyes.

"But you're not alone." Sakura said in a comforting voice.

"I woke up alone." Temari said softly.

"The only reason for that is because Shikamaru is away on a mission, but don't worry, he'll be back in a few days." Sakura said with a smile.

"Who's Shikamaru?" Temari asked looking back at Sakura questioningly.

Sakura's smile fell slowly as she looked Temari in the eyes, her question making Sakura's heart drop. Did she really hear that question correctly?

"She has amnesia." Karui said in a serious tone as she crossed her arms.

That means when shikadai found Temari, she didn't know who he was. Her heart bled for shikadai. His mother has been in a coma for five years and now that she's finally awake she doesn't know who he is...

"Well, I did expect something to be wrong with her brain. I guess amnesia is better than brain damage..." Sakura said with a sigh.

They expected there to be problems if Temari woke up and she told Shikamaru this. She told him that if Temari woke up she'll never be the same again...

"Why would I have brain damage? Why do I have amnesia? What happened to me? And who us Shikamaru?" Temari asked in frustrated as she voiced the questions that were floating in her mind, driving her mad.

"Let's go back to the hospital then I'll explain everything to you." Sakura said with a sigh.

"Do I really have a choice in this matter?" Temari said as she gritted her teeth.

"Not really. Chouji will you carry her to the hospital?" Sakura asked as she looked back at Chouji.

"Of course." Chouji answered.

"I'll be back soon." Chouji said to Karui with a smile while she nodded.

He kissed her cheek before he walked with Sakura to the hospital while Karui went back into the house.

"Well since I'm being taken against my will you two might as well answer my questions." Temari said with an irritated expression.

"Sure." Chouji said with a shrug.

"First question, what happened that caused my amnesia?" Temari asked looking at the two shinobi for answers.

A guilty look came over Sakura's eyes as she reverted her eyes to the side while Chouji looked at the ground.

"It's not a story to be told in this situation." Sakura said softly, it sounded like an unpleasant story Sakura didn't want to tell.

"Next question." Chouji said as he looked back up.

"You barely answered my first question." Temari said annoyed.

"You heard the man, next question." Sakura said.

"Fine, second question. Who is Shikamaru?" Temari asked.

"He's your husband and the father of your child." Chouji answered.

"And how does my said husband look like?" Temari asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Shikadai is the spitting image of Shikamaru, the only difference is shikadai has your eyes." Chouji answered.

"I see." Temari said as she visualized how her said husband looks like.

"We're here!" Sakura announced as they arrived at the hospital, pulling Temari out of her thoughts.

She still wanted to ask more questions, but she pushed her questions aside for later and focused on the building in front of her. Temari face turned to one of focus as she thought of a way to escape again.

"If your thinking about escaping, just know if you try I'll sedate you and tie you to the bed." Sakura said as she gave Temari a warning look.

Temari gasped at her, how did she know what she was thinking.

"Who says I'm thinking about escaping?" Temari asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I know you Temari, we're actually good friends so I know how your brain work." Sakura said with a smile as she led Chouji who still held on to Temari to a hospital room.

They entered an empty room that had no other patients in. A lonely room with only beds and medical equipment in. Temari's face hardened, as soon a the big oaf let her go she was making her great escape.

"Now Temari, Chouji is going to release you now and once he releases you I want you to remain calm." Sakura said in a calm voice as she tried to get Temari to be calm as well.

However even tough Temari was calm, she had no intentions of staying. All Temari wanted was to see or hear something familiar, but nothing around her was ever familiar... everyone knew her, but she didn't recognise anyone...

She guessed her said son was correct, she did have amnesia.

Oh, how life smiled upon her... what did she do to deserve amnesia? But one question that tugged at her mind furiously is what happened to her that caused amnesia?

"Okay Chouji, release her slowly." Sakura said making Chouji nod and Temari to smirk slightly.

Chouji slowly unwrapped his giant fingers from Temari as he sat her down on the floor. Temari stood still as Chouji made his hand go to a normal size. However as soon as Chouji's hand was a normal size Temari sprinted to the door, her only problem was the pink head between her and the door. However, Temari reckoned she had a better chance with the medic than an actual ninja.

After all, how much damage can a medic do...

Sakura looked bluntly at Temari as she ran towards her. Temari glared at a calm Sakura. A medic being calm while their patient is trying to escape. Sakura pulled a syringe from the pouch she wore in a flash and stuck it in the back of Temari's neck as she ran passed Sakura. Temari stopped as Sakura pushed the button to allow the fluids to enter Temari's bloodstream.

Temari almost immediately felt drowsy as Sakura pulled the needle out her neck.

"I warned you." Sakura said calmly as she threw the syringe away.

The world around Temari begun to spin at a sickening pace as her eyes grew heavy and before Temari knew it she found herself on the floor. Temari watched from the floor in a daze.

"Chouji, get her on a bed." Sakura said, that was the last thing Temari heard before everything melted away and she entered a dreamless state.

However, just before she completely lost consciousness an eerie smirk played through her mind, one that looked oddly familiar and an ominous chuckle that accompanied that forbidding smirk. But both faded away as the black abyss consumed her mind.

 **xXx**

Temari eyes slowly opened. There were no birds singing and there wasn't a bright cheerful sun shining down signalling that it was morning. It was cloudy and gloomy outside, it made it hard for Temari to determine whether it was morning, afternoon or later in the afternoon. The wind was blowing a cold wind around as the wind tugged at the empty tree branches. There were no birds singing and no kids laughing in the streets. Temari blinked groggily as she looked around with confusion, trying to puzzle together what happened. However as her mind woke up, she clearly remembered what happened the previous night. She woke up from a five-year coma with amnesia, she met her son, she found out she had a husband and the medic sedated her.

Temari looked to the side and smiled softly. The little boy she met last night that claimed he was her son sat in a chair next to her bed, fast asleep...

Temari sat up but felt something tuck at her wrist while she sat up. Temari looked down at her wrist with a frown. She had a metal handcuff on that restraint her to the hospital bed. Temari tugged on it loudly, but of course, the metal handcuff stayed.

"Sakura-sensei handcuffed you to the bed because you're trying to escape the whole time." Shikadai commented lazily next to her bed.

Temari looked from the handcuff on her left wrist to the boy in the chair next to her bed.

"I thought you were asleep." Temari said.

"I was." Shikadai said with a sigh.

"What hospital has handcuffs anyway." Temari asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not the hospital's, she probably lent them from Sasuke-sensei." Shikadai said with amusement, however, Temari just raised an eyebrow.

"That's her husband." Shikadai explained.

"Well as long as it doesn't have fluff on it." Temari mumbled.

"What?" Shikadai asked, he couldn't hear what his mother said.

"Nothing." Temari said quickly.

She didn't need her son to know what a fluffy handcuff was for, not at his age...

"Did Sakura say how long she wants to keep me here?" Temari asked Shikadai as looked at the needle that was yet again stuck in her arm.

"She said she wanted to run more tests then I can take you home." Shikadai said as he leaned his head in his hand lazily.

"I'm supposed to take care of you, not the other way around." Temari said as she cocked her head at him which made him smile in amusement.

"So mother of mine, tell me where we live then." Shikadai said with an amused, victorious smirk which made his mother glare at him.

"You know I don't know where we live." Temari said with a sigh.

"Let me take care of you, even though it's a drag." Shikadai said making Temari smile softly.

"Well until dad comes back anyway." Shikadai shrugged as he leaned back in the chair.

"When do you think Sakura will start the tests?" Temari asked, she had to admit he was organised for his age.

However, she had an idea it was only because his dad was away and his mother had amnesia. Temari could see the boy had a lazy attitude on him. He would only do something if he had to do it.

"She already ran a few tests this morning while you were still asleep. She said they were going to process the results today then they'll run a few test later. So if you ask me, she's going to let you stay the night." Shikadai said noticing the displeased face Temari had.

She didn't want to stay another night.

"I can stay." Shikadai suggested.

"No, you should go to the fat guy's house. He looks like he takes care of you and you need your sleep." Temari said seriously.

"His name is Chouji Akamitchi. He's dad's best friend. Our clans have been working together for like forever." Shikadai said.

"Then it's settled, you'll stay there until I can go home. Besides you can't stay the whole night, it's against the rules." Temari said.

"It's no big deal, I've done it before. Why do you think I was awake and walking in the streets so early in the morning." Shikadai said making Temari rise an eyebrow.

"Oh, you have, have you?" A dark voice said at the door of the room, making all the colour drain from Shikadai's face.

"No, I would never do that." Shikadai said nervously making Temari chuckle.

"I'll let it slide this time." Sakura said as she glared at him.

"Are you here for the rest of the test?" Temari asked.

"I see Shikadai has filled you in and yes I am." Sakura said with a smile as she walked into the room.

"Let's get it done and over with then." Temari said with a sigh.

"Sure, so you have three choices..." Sakura started as she watched Temari.

"Let's hear them then." Temari said.

"I can either take the handcuff off and you can walk on your own there or we can take you there in a wheelchair since your muscles are still weak or we can roll you in the bed still handcuffed to the bed." Sakura said in a voice that challenged Temari as nurses started to enter the room as well.

"Don't challenge her mom." Shikadai said with a sweatshop, but she ignored him.

"I'll walk thank you." Temari said in a voice that challenged Sakura.

"Okay then." Sakaru said as she uncuffed Temari.

Temari smiled as she rubbed her wrist and climb off the bed, her knees giving in as her feet landed only the floor.

"Careful now." Sakura said as she rushed to help her while Shikadai also jumped up just in case.

"I'm not a newborn baby." Temari said irritated as she waved Sakura off.

Temari wobbled on her legs as she quickly grabbed the side off the bed to stabilize herself.

"Remember the drip then." Sakura said as she took a step back.

"Follow the nurses, they'll show you the way." Sakura said.

"You're not coming?" Temari asked as she left the bed then held onto the pole that held her drip and used that to keep herself from falling.

"I'll catch up." Sakura said as she watched Temari slowly make her way out the room.

"Suit yourself then. I'll see you when I get back Shikadai." Temari said with a grin as she walked out the room with the nurses hovering around her.

"Stop hovering!" Sakura and shikadai heard Temari yell from outside the room, making them sweatdrop.

"How are you holding up?" Sakura asked Shikadai.

"I keep wanting to ask her questions about herself because to be honest I only knew her through stories since nobody can remember when they where 3, but then I remember she has amnesia." Shikadai said with a sigh as he watched the door.

"What happened to her was really unfortunate... We'll find a way to fix her amnesia." Sakura said comfortably.

"Dad would be happy to find out she's awake when he comes back." Shikadai said with a small smile.

"No doubt, it's a shame he wasn't here when she woke up. He would've saved us a lot of trouble." Sakura said with a sigh.

"What makes you say that?" Shikadai asked confused.

"Your dad knows how to handle your mom. If he didn't he probably would've died a long time ago." Sakura said chuckling slightly.

Sakura rubbed Shikadai's head which made him grunt in displeasure because she messed up his hair. Sakura smiled as she walked out the room to do tests on Temari so they can solve her amnesia.

In all honesty, amnesia was the best possible outcome they could've gotten. Temari could've been brain dead or brain damaged. She could've never woken up or she would've woken up and wouldn't be able to move properly or speak properly. She could've woken up with serious mental issues, but she woke up with amnesia and amnesia is something that they can maybe reverse.

Sakura was hopeful...

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, hope you liked the chapter. I'm supposed to be learning for my exam that I'm pretty sure I'm going to fail anyway but instead I'm bench watching (not sure how that is spelt) Kami-sama kiss. It's a fantastic anime, you guys should watch it :P**


	3. Home

Just as Shikadai predicted Sakura did tests the whole afternoon then told Temari to stay the night just so they can monitor her. Shikadai went back to Chouji's house that night just like his mother asked. However the next morning he went back to his mother's hospital room, even though he knew he had classes that day.

But he knew he wouldn't get in trouble because his dad didn't come until tomorrow and his mom has amnesia. Besides he never paid attention in class anyway, he just slept. Luckily for him, he was born in a clan of geniuses.

Shikadai sat in the chair next to his mom. The sun was shining today and the birds were singing this morning. Everything was peaceful as his mother still slept, however this time she wasn't asleep because she was sedated.

But the peaceful silence didn't last long...

"Yo, Shikadai!" A loud voice greeted as he jumped through the window into the room.

Shikadai hurriedly shushed the blond obnoxious boy that jumped into the room but the boy didn't listen to him as he casually walked to Shikadai.

"I heard from Sarada that your mom came out her coma, that's great!" Boruto exclaimed before Shikadai jumped up to cover his mouth before he could wake up his mom.

"Keep it down! You'll wake her up." Shikadai said in a hushed voice.

"What's so wrong with that?" Boruto asked in a muffled voice as he shrugged.

How boruto sees it is that Shikadai's mom has been in a coma for five years, it's about time she wakes up and stays awake

"It's troublesome." Shikadai and a tall man at the door said at the same time.

Shikadai let go of boruto and turned around to see his dad standing at the door with a smile while his hands were stuffed into his pockets.

"Dad!" Shikadai said happily.

"Believe me Boruto, you don't want to be in this room if you were the one who woke her up for no reason. That's a bad idea." Shikamaru said as he walked into the room.

"But I want to see her awake..." boruto whined slightly, he's never seen shikadai's mom awake before and he was itching to see how she was when she was awake.

How bad could she be?

"Then you should wait till she wakes up, besides aren't you two suppose to be in class?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shikadai and boruto started to sweat nervously. Shikadai was wrong when he thought he wouldn't get in trouble and boruto knew Shikadai's dad would tell his mom he wasn't going to class because he was friends with his mom.

"School got cancelled." Boruto tried weakly making Shikadai facepalm.

However, before Shikamaru could say anything a dark aura filled the room. All the men nervously turned their head to Temari who was now awake.

"Which one of you are the reason I'm awake?" Temari asked glaring at the boys and man in front of her bed.

Shikadai and the man she hadn't seen before simultaneously pointed a finger at Boruto making him gape at them while Temari glared at him.

"This is betrayal, Shikadai!" Boruto exclaimed.

"Who are you and why did you wake me up?" Temari asked with a scoff.

"The names Boruto Uzumaki, I'm a friend of Shikadai's. Please spare me." Boruto said as he hid behind Shikadai.

"Just as scary as ever. Go back to class Boruto before I tell your mom your skipping classes. You too Shikadai." Shikamaru said as he laughed making the boys grumble before they left for the academy.

"What? You're supposed to be in class?" Temari asked in shocked before her expression turned angry.

"Go Boruto! Run!" Shikadai yelled as he ran before he could see the full extent of his mother's wrath.

It was quiet once the children left for the academy. Temari sighed then turned her head to look at the man that stood next to her bed.

"It's good to see you awake again." Shikamaru said in a soft voice.

"You must be Shikamaru." Temari said as she finally met her acclaimed husband.

"The one and only. Sakura told me about your amnesia." He said as he sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"I'm assuming you know what happened to me since you're my husband." Temari said as she looked at the man.

"Yes, I do. I was there when it happened." Shikamaru said with a sigh as he reverted his eyes, almost looking guilty.

"So what is it, what happened?" Temari asked curiously, she was dying to know what caused her amnesia.

"Nobody is completely sure... Everyone has a different piece of the story, but I put all the stories together a long time ago, the only one I'm missing is Neji's piece and he had the most crucial piece...

It happened while we were away on a mission. It was an important mission. So important that Naruto, the Hokage, wanted to do it himself. However that wasn't an option, he had to stay in the village. He was Hokage after all. So, in the end, he ended up sending myself, Sakura, Neji and you.

He chose me because of my strategic thinking, Sakura because of her medical prowess, Neji because of his Byakugan and you because of your skill in wind jutsu. At first, you didn't want to go because you had to take care of Shikadai, but you missed using that fan of yours and you excelled in battles. So when Chouji offered to take care of Shikadai while we were away you reconsidered and ultimately agreed to the mission.

Sakura also didn't want to go at first but Sasuke assured her he'd stay in the leaf village and take care of her, he said she should see it as giving them some alone time to bond so, in the end, she also went with us. The mission was an escort mission, pretty simple. But things didn't turn out that simple..." Shikamaru said with a sigh as he stood up and walked to the window, watching the clouds float lazily in the morning sky.

Temari watched him curiously as he relayed the story to her.

"We were to escort an S-class criminal back to his homeland, the village hidden in the clouds. We took a boat from the land of waves to the land of lightning. After all, there were fewer pirates than bandits. We were expecting easy sailing with an irritating criminal who ran his mouth. I must say that mouth of his earned him numerous beatings from you." Shikamaru said amused as he turned back to her while she smirked.

"We sailed for a week before we reached the cloud village, however on the last day things didn't quite go according to plan." Shikamaru said with a sigh as he sat back down in the chair.

"It started off as a beautiful sunny day, but that all changed when unnatural clouds filled the sky. They just suddenly appeared in the sky and grew at an alarming rate until the whole blue sky was covered in black ominous clouds. Moments after the clouds formed mist covered the ocean leaving us blind and rain poured from the heavens. However, as the first raindrop hit our boat so did another boat. It rammed into ours as it started raining.

The boat that crashed into ours was filled with B and A ranked shinobi. They successfully made a hole in the bottom of the boat where we kept the prisoner, making water flood into the holding cells at a tremendous speed. The enemy shinobi boarded our ship and started attacking us. I was fighting in the front of the ship when you yelled that you were going to secure the prisoner.

You were gone before I could argue. But then again you always were compulsive. You disappeared into the bottom of the ship where the water where streaming in. It was dangerous to go alone, but I couldn't go after you because the shinobi on the boat kept me busy. Neji was the closest one to you so he went after you to provide back up while Sakura and I took care of the shinobi on the deck.

There where only a few enemy shinobi left, but the boat was sinking at an alarming rate and you were still beneath deck with Neji and the prisoner. What also worried me was that you'd have to fight in a cramped place that's filled with water when you were better at fighting long distance in open spaces. However, suddenly Sakura came running to me telling that the ship was about to explode.

Turns out a shinobi coated the ship in oil and Sakura couldn't stop him. I tried to get below deck to get to you, but Sakura tackled me off the ship and as soon as our bodies hit the water the boat exploded into flames with you and Neji still inside. There where fire everywhere. The flames engulfed everything and lighted the dark cloudy sky. It was a magnificently destructive sight, yet a hauntingly terrifying sight that would forever reappear in my dreams. After the boat exploded I searched for you everywhere, but I couldn't find you. There where bodies, debris and fire everywhere. I thought I lost you. It was terrifying..." Shikamaru said as he trailed off almost like he was seeing the bodies floating in the sea again and how the fire engulfed everything.

"Where did you find me?" Temari asked in a quiet tone as her face softened.

"We found your body on the shore. We searched for you and Neji for hours in the sea, until eventually Sakura was convinced that the fire had swallowed both of you." Shikamaru said with a frown.

"How did I get there?" Temari asked curiously.

"We don't know, but you had no burn marks or smoke in your lungs. However, your lungs were filled with water. Sakura assumed you were drowning before you appeared on the shore, but we don't know how you got there since you were unconscious. It was scary seeing you not breathing. You should ask Sakura about your amnesia, she'll explain everything medically. After Sakura resuscitated and treated you we found Neji a few meters from you, however, he wasn't that lucky. We found him impaled with a wooden shard through his heart. But the strange thing is he died of drowning and the wooden stick through his heart was a piece of our boat, however, it wasn't charred like it should have been." Shikamaru said as he tried to put the impossible puzzle together.

"And the prisoner?" Temari asked.

"He was gone without a trace. We still don't know whether he's dead or alive." Shikamaru said with a heavy sigh.

"If Neji was a Hyuga why couldn't he see the boat before it rammed into ours?" Temari asked confused.

"We also don't know that. He died before we could ask him any of these questions and you have amnesia." Shikamaru said looking at her.

"Sounds like it was one shitty mission." Temari said solemnly.

"It was indeed. We were left with nothing. Our prisoner vanished, our resources either sank or burned and you were in a critical state. In the end, we were forced to leave Neji's body there. It killed me a little inside to just leave him there but we were pressed on time. After all your brain was shutting down." Shikamaru said.

"You know what Sakura told me when we got back to Konoha?" Shikamaru said with a slight smile that held no happiness or amusement, it was a small smile that seemed sad.

"What?" Temari asked with a raised eyebrow.

"She told me that you'll have brain damage when you woke, if you woke up." Shikamaru said despair creeping in his voice.

"And here I am now, perfectly fine without any brain damage. However, the amnesia is a problem." Temari said with a smirk which made Shikamaru chuckle slightly.

"You truly are a troublesome woman." Shikamaru said with a slight scoff as he stood up and walked over to Temari.

He stopped in front of her then leaned down, pulling her into a hug. Temari stiffened in his embrace, after all, she couldn't remember this man. She wanted to say something but he beat her to it. He spoke right as she opened her mouth to say something.

"Don't leave us again." Shikamaru said in a soft tone as he tightened his hug making Temari's eyes widen her mouth still agape.

"I don't ever want to explain to Shikadai again why his mother couldn't come home." Shikamaru said in an even softer tone.

Temari closed her mouth and her eyes softened. She wrapped her arms around her husband and smiled slightly.

"I'm not going anywhere." Temari said in a gentle tone.

He seemed fragile, yet strong. Broken, yet functional. His emotions looked like they clashed and contradicted each other in his eyes.

"Now then my troublesome wife, it's about time you came home." Shikamaru said with a smile as he leaned back and looked into those beautiful teal eyes of hers he hadn't seen in years.

"Lead the way." Temari said with a warm smile.

She wasn't alone anymore.

"Did the pink-haired doctor clear me? I don't want her chasing after me again." Temari asked as she pulled the blankets off and swung her legs from the bed.

"Yes, Sakura did. She even made me sign forms as soon as I stepped foot in this hospital." Shikamaru said with a lazy expression.

"How troublesome." Temari said sarcastically as she mocked him with the word he used to describe her.

Temari stepped down from the bed, however as soon as her feet met the floor her legs wobbled. She didn't know why her legs were unstable and unsteady now, but not when she made her great escape. She assumed it was the adrenaline that kicked in and that the side effects of her coma were only now kicking in.

"Whoa there. You've been in a coma for five years, you're going to be a little unsteady on your feet. Physical therapy can only get you that far." Shikamaru said as he quickly came to her side to stable her.

He took her arms to help her stabilise herself.

"So do I have clothes or am I just going to walk around in a hospital gown?" Temari asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There are some clothes in the nightstand next to the hospital bed. I'll get it." Shikamaru said as he let go of her arms and fetched it for her.

He took the clothes from the nightstand then walked back to Temari, he took her waist as she walked to make sure she wouldn't lose her balance.

"I can walk on my own." Temari said stubbornly as they walked to the bathroom.

"I know you can, troublesome woman." Shikamaru said, but he still didn't let go.

He walked with her into the bathroom and placed her clothes in the bathroom.

"Are you going to be okay alone?" Shikamaru asked with slight worry in his voice.

"Yes, I'm not a child." Temari said irritated as she crossed her arms and looked at him.

"I can help you." Shikamaru said a slight smirk playing on his lips.

"Get out!" Temari exclaimed angrily as she pushed him out the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

Shikamaru chuckled as he leaned against the door frame while looking at the closed door.

"You know I have seen you naked, right? We have a child together after all." Shikamaru said amused as he teased her.

"I know how a baby is made!" Temari exclaimed from the bathroom, Shikamaru could tell she was flustered.

"Good to know." Shikamaru said amused.

"Pervert." Temari said irritated as she opened the door and looked at Shikamaru with a blunt expression.

Shikamaru could see how much weight Temari lost while she was in a coma after all she hasn't eaten in five years. The only thing that has been keeping her nourished and hydrated was the fluids in the IV they gave her. Her clothes she always used to wear were now slightly too big for her.

"Call it what you want, it's not like we haven't done it before. You just can't remember." Shikamaru said as he laughed.

"I'm so glad you're finding this funny." Temari said irritated as she started walking to the door.

"Lighten up troublesome woman, I'm only teasing you a little." Shikamaru laughed as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

And for that moment in time, he forgot about Temari's amnesia.

"Can you please let go of me." Temari said as her cheeks heated up.

"Sorry." Shikamaru said as he stepped back, releasing Temari's waist.

"I heard you gave Chouji some problems when you woke up." Shikamaru said lazily as they walked through the hospital.

A path that was very familiar to Shikamaru.

"It couldn't be helped, he was getting in my way." Temari said bluntly as she shrugged.

"You never change Temari." Shikamaru said with an endearing smile.

"I missed you, troublesome woman." Shikamaru said as he looked at Temari.

"I wish I could say the same, I really do, but in my mind, we only met today." Temari said as she looked up at him.

"I know." Shikamaru said with a sigh as he looked in front of him again.

"Just give me time. I'll adjust."Temari said as she didn't take her eyes off him.

"You can have all the time in the world. I'm not going anywhere." Shikamaru said as he looked back at her with a supportive smile.

"Thank you." Temari said softly.

"There's no need to thank me." Shikamaru said as they exited the hospital.

Temari and Shikamaru stepped outside the hospital and into the sun. Shikamaru had his hands stuffed into his pockets as he walked but he stopped walking as he noticed Temari stopped outside the door. Shikamaru turned back to her with a puzzled look, he didn't understand why she stopped. Temari stood in the sun with her eyes closed and her head tilted up. It looked like she was embracing the sunlight.

"It feels so long since I last felt the sunlight." Temari said with a content sigh as she bathed in the sunlight.

"It's because it has been a long time." Shikamaru said in a soft tone as he watched Temari.

She looked so peaceful. She didn't have that confuse frown she now usually had. Her hair was loose, but it was as short as usual. Ino, the vanity queen she is, took it upon herself to keep Temari's hair short. She thought it would be something Temari would appreciate. However, Shikamaru was sure now Temari wouldn't even know. Shikamaru didn't rush Temari. She just came out of a five-year-long coma and honestly, he was just happy that she was finally awake. Temari sighed then lowered her head and opened her eyes.

"Let's go home." Temari said as she walked towards Shikamaru.

"Let's go home." Shikamaru repeated with a soft smile. 

* * *

**A/N: Yaaay Shikamaru entered the story** **omg guys I finished Kamisama kiss and it was the cutest anime I have ever seen. If you have not watched kamisama kiss do yourself a massive favour and watch if you're into romantic anime.**


	4. Control

"This is it." Shikamaru said as he opened the door to where they lived.

He held the door open for Temari to enter then walked in after her. She looked around the house curiously as she walked in, taking everything in that she could see.

"It's a really nice house." Temari said looking around.

"You wouldn't have it any other way." Shikamaru said standing next to her.

"You really can't remember anything?" Shikamaru asked seriously as he looked at her.

"You think the doctor and I am lying about my amnesia?" Temari asked with a raised eyebrow as she turned her head to Shikamaru with crossed arms.

"Of course not. Don't get so defensive about it." Shikamaru said with a sigh as he watched the troublesome woman.

"Come on, I'll show you around the house." Shikamaru said with a smile as he took her arms and uncrossed them, taking her hand in his as he walked backwards while pulling her with him.

He showed her around the house, starting at the kitchen and ending at shikadai's room. Telling little stories about that certain room every now and then, little stories she was supposed to know but didn't. Temari leaned against the door frame and stared at Shikadai's room.

"What are you thinking?" Shikamaru asked as he leaned against the other side of the door frame and looked at her.

"He's been growing up without a mother for 5 years." Temari said sadly.

"Don't blame yourself." Shikamaru said still watching her.

"And just as he gets his mother back, I can't remember anything..." Temari continued.

"Don't do this to yourself, you'll only regret it." Shikamaru said as he walked over to Temari and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he leaned his head on the top of her head.

"I see this is going to be a normal thing." Temari said referring to him hugging her with crossed arms.

"It can't be helped, I missed you." Shikamaru said with a shrug making Temari sigh.

"I'm home!" Shikadai called from the front door making Temari and Shikamaru look in the direction of the front door.

Temari turned around walking to the door as Shikamaru let go and walked behind her. Shikadai turned his head to his right to see his father with his mother. He knew she would've been released sooner or later but he just didn't know when. So he was surprised she was home, but not that surprised.

"How was class?" Temari asked as she entered the room with Shikamaru.

"Troublesome." Shikadai said with a sigh as he sat down on the couch in the living room.

"Did you pay attention in class?" Shikamaru said with a knowing face making Shikadai look at his father with a glare.

Shikadai didn't know what game his father was playing, but he was not getting in trouble with his troublesome mother.

"Why wouldn't I?" Shikadai asked challenging his dad while Temari just blinked in confusion, she had no idea what was happening but she knew something was happening.

"Because you take after your father." Shikamaru said with a knowing smirk.

"What's going on?" Temari asked confused.

"You have a lazy son and an even lazier husband." Shikamaru said as he chuckled which made Temari sigh.

"What have I done?" Temari mumbled bluntly to herself with a small smile as she referred to her marriage with Shikamaru.

Temari looked down as she frowned while Shikamaru replied to her rhetorical question. She didn't frown because of what Shikamaru said but because of the fact that the world around her sounded muddled. It sounded like there were cotton balls in her ears that seemed to shut out the sounds of the world. After her world went silent, everything she saw started to blur. Temari's frown deepened as everything sounded muffled and looked blurry, yet she felt fine. Her surroundings looked darker than what they were earlier, almost like the shadows were taking over.

" _Confused, aren't you my dear_?" A male voice said through the muffled echoes of her surroundings.

Temari shot her head up looking for where the voice was coming from, but she couldn't find the source.

" _Better snap out of it, we don't want that husband of yours worrying.._." The voice said amused, taunting her.

"... _Not just yet_..." The voice continued, however this time the voice had a more eerie quality.

"Temari?" Temari heard Shikamaru ask as she looked at him with a frown.

Her hearing and eyesight returning back to normal.

"Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked worriedly while Shikadai stared at his mother.

"Yeah." Temari replied with half a smile, feeling uneasy about what just occurred.

"You looked dazed for awhile and you didn't respond when I called you. Are you sure you're okay." Shikamaru asked walking closer.

"Yes, I'm sure." Temari said as she looked up at him with a reassuring smile.

"If you say so." Shikamaru said still not convinced that she is completely okay.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed slightly, but not enough for Shikadai or Temari to realise. He'll be keeping a close eye on Temari, not only because she has amnesia but also because of the recent occurrences that have been happening in Konoha and surrounding villages. There was a reason Naruto sent his advisor and not Sasuke. Shikamaru wanted to believe that Temari simply awoke from her coma on her own, but he had a gut feeling that her awakening where connected to something bigger.

 **xXx**

Sakura sat in the hospital lab as she examined the test results they had from Temari. She needed to find out whether this amnesia Temari has is only temporary or permanent as well as find any other lingering mental problems she may have gotten from drowning. She wanted to analyze the data as fast and as soon as possible.

Sakura sighed as she put the paperwork down and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her aching templates. So far she has found absolutely nothing and as far as Sakura is concerned Temari was supposed to have brain damage when she woke up. But she was perfectly normal, except for the amnesia of course.

Sakura put her arms down on the desk and leaned her head on top of them. Staring at the images they had of Temari's brain that was hanging on the wall to her right. She stared at them as they stared back at her until her vision grew drowsy and her eyelids turned heavy. She blinked slowly as she tried to stay awake but that proved futile. She hasn't slept the previous night, she didn't even go home to her husband and child. She was sleep deprived.

It was late the afternoon when Sakura's tired eyelids finally closed. She fell asleep instantly as her mind went blank. However, before her mind could completely fade into blissful sleep she heard the faintest sound behind her. Like someone materialising behind her. She would've thought that weird if she didn't have a husband that possessed the Rinnegan.

Sakura quickly sat up and pretended that she was fully engrossed in her work before she turned around with a raised eyebrow, questioning why he was in the lab, unauthorised at that. However, Sakura was surprised to see that Sarada was with him with a happy smile.

"Don't pretend like you weren't asleep." Sasuke said with a sigh.

"How was school, honey?" Sakura asked happily as she looked at Sarada, ignoring Sasuke.

"It was fine, Boruto just caused some trouble." Sarada said with a sigh.

"Again? Guess I shouldn't expect anything less, he is Naruto's son after all." Sakura said with a small smile.

"By the way Sasuke, how did you get in here, it's a restricted area." Sakura asked as she looked up at him.

"That's a dumb question." Sasuke answered bluntly, knowing she knew the real question was where couldn't he get in.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We came to take you home. You need to rest." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

"I'll rest after I finish this." Sakura answered with a sigh.

"You know the plan, right Sarada?" Sasuke said as he looked at Sarada.

"I do, Papa." Sarada said with a determined grin that resembled Sakura's a lot.

"What plan? What's going on?" Sakura asked confused.

"Commence plan b." Sasuke stayed quietly making Sarada walk to Sakura.

"Mama, please come home." Sarada said in a sad voice as she enlarged her eyes in a cute way as she looked into her mother's eyes.

Sakura quickly covered her eyes with her hands.

"Your puppy eyes won't work if I can't see them." Sakura exclaimed as she blocked her vision with her hands, scared she'll give in to Sarada's puppy dog eyes if she saw them.

"Commence plan c, Papa." Sarada exclaimed quickly as she stepped back.

"Wait, there's even a plan c?" Sakura asked confused still covering her eyes.

However, Sakura didn't receive an answer. She did, however, feel herself being hoisted on Sasuke's shoulder. Sakura yelped from surprise as she let go of her eyes to see herself being held firmly over Sasuke's shoulder while Sarada grinned at her.

"So plan c is taking me by force?" Sakura asked while laughing.

"Yes, you need rest." Sasuke said while Sarada nodded in agreement.

"Hold onto me Sarada." Sasuke said as Sarada complied.

He used his Rinnegan to transport them out the hospital and into the streets of Konoha. Once they teleported outside Sarada let go of Sasuke's cape while Sasuke silently walked the path to their home with Sarada walking next to him.

"Darling, can you put me down now, I won't go back to the hospital. I promise." Sakura said in a pleading voice, she didn't want to be a burden to Sasuke.

"Why are you so interested in this case? It's just another amnesia case." Sasuke asked curiously as he completely ignored her previous statement.

Sakura has been working as a doctor for the hospital even before Sarada was born. She would sometimes come home after a day of work and tell him about the cases she'd be working on when he wasn't away on a mission. However, as time passed and Tsunade and eventually Shizune stepped down and retired, Sakura took over only the interesting or hard cases that other doctors could not solve. Sasuke knew this because of the stories she told him about her cases.

However, she started doing fewer amnesia cases because there was always a way to help the patient remember or their amnesia was permanent. So why was Sakura spending so much time on Temari's case?

"Because I have this feeling that there is an underlying problem with Temari. Something crucial I'm missing." Sakura answered as a frown formed on her eyebrows.

"Is that why you are overworking yourself, Mama?" Sarada asked as she walked slightly slower so she could look at her mother.

"Yes, I've been so distracted trying to find that underlying problem that I haven't even started looking for a way to lift Temari's amnesia." Sakura said with a sigh.

"There are other doctors in the hospital that is capable enough to research Temari's amnesia, so why don't you let them handle it?" Sasuke asked.

"Because Temari is my friend and I would like to do it myself." Sakura answered.

"So what is the underlying problem?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know yet." Sakura answered.

"I just hope I'm wrong." Sakura said as she stared at Sasuke's back.

"And what if you're not?" Sasuke asked as he glanced at Sakura over his shoulder.

"Then I just hope that I find this underlying problem before any serious damage is done." Sakura said in a troubled voice.

"Don't worry Mama, everything will be alright, you're the best doctor in the village." Sarada said with a smile as she looked at Sakura which made Sakura smile as well.

Sasuke watched as the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon, casting long shadows over the village. As the light faded, darkness slowly crept over the village. However, the shadows were only a cover for something more ominous than the shadows that crept slowly over the village.

 **xXx**

It was quiet as night settled over the village. It was dark as the whole village was fast asleep. It was in the dead of night when Temari awoke. Her eyes were dazed over and far away, not registering what was going on around her. Shikamaru was asleep next to her, unaware of Temari conscious daze. There was a childish argument at dinner about where they were sleeping but in the end, Shikamaru won the argument and thus she was sleeping with him in the same bed.

Temari slipped out the blankets and out the bed without making a sound. Her feet moving on their own to an unknown destination. Her feet carrying her to the living room. She stopped walking and stood in the middle of the room as her hair hung over her face, still in her dazed state.

" _You know where to go_." The same ominous male voice from earlier that day whispered.

The voice sounded so close that it could've been whispered in her ear. However, the voice came from everywhere, she couldn't pinpoint the source of the voice. Temari stood in the living room almost like her body was reluctant to move, but after a minute she started walking to the front door. She opened it silently as her fingers lingered on the doorknob, the cold breeze of the wind brushing through her untied hair. She let go of the doorknob and stepped outside, closing the door behind her as she left unnoticed.

Temari walked in a daze through the village. Her feet took her on a designated path that seemed familiar to her body but not her mind. She walked with her head cast downwards until she reached the park. She stopped in the middle of the park, the lights keeping the darkness at bay. It was silent until footsteps broke the eerie quietness.

"Temari..." A voice rang through the silence of the park as the source of the voice walked through the darkness.

"It's good to see you again my dear." The man said as he stepped into the light that the street lamps provided illuminating his wicked smile.

He took the lollipop he's been sucking on out his mouth and twirled it in his fingers as his lips twisted into a wide grin while his other hand was stuffed into his pockets. He walked without a care in the world while another man, which was more serious, walked behind him. He walked until he was in front of Temari then stopped, placing the lollipop back in his mouth. He used his now free hand to take Temari's chin to move her dazed face around as he inspected her.

"My Leshy, that Genjutsu of yours is really handy." The man said to the serious man behind him, his jet black hit glistening in the light.

The serious man was a tall man with pale skin. He had white hair that came over his forest green eyes.

"Is this the woman?" Leshy asked in a serious deep voice.

"Yep, this is the one." The shorter man said amused.

"You never told me what you wanted with her?" Leshy asked the smirking man.

"She took something important to me and I intend to get it back." He said with a malicious smile that craved blood.

"Someone's coming." Leshy said looking over Temari into the distance.

"That's our cue then." The man said with a sigh as he turned around and walked away with his hands casually behind his head.

"You're not taking her with us?" Leshy asked with slight confusion in his voice as he followed his comrade.

"Not yet. I still want to play with the little shinobi of the leaf." He said his bloodthirsty smile returning as they entered the shadows.

"Temari!" A man behind them called.

However, this voice Temari recognize, even in her dazed state.

 **xXx**

Shikamaru's eyes shot open as he sensed a disturbance. Something was wrong... Shikamaru looked to his side, expecting Temari too be there, but much too his surprise she wasn't there. Shikamaru quickly sat up then climbed out the bed. There was a possibility that she only left to get some water or a midnight snack, she tended to do that a lot when she was pregnant. But that wasn't the case now. He knew something was off, he could feel it. Shikamaru jogged through the house to the kitchen, but as he predicted she wasn't there. He scowled as he ran through the rest of the house but she was nowhere to be found.

"Temari!" Shikamaru called as he stood in the living room with clenched fists.

But he received no answer, instead, his tired son made an appearance.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Shikadai asked as he rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"Where's your mother?" Shikamaru asked Shikadai with an urgent tone.

A tone Shikadai has never heard his dad use before.

"What's going on, dad?" Shikadai asked alerted as he lowered his hand which he used to rub his eye.

"Stay here Shikadai." Shikamaru said as he ran out the front door leaving a confused Shikadai in the living room staring at him.

Temari wouldn't just wander off on her own in the middle of the night, especially since she has amnesia. Shikamaru jumped to the roofs as he searched for Temari. He dashed all across Konoha in search of Temari, but it was almost as if she disappeared without a trace.

"Where are you Temari?" Shikamaru asked himself softly.

He ignored the cold that seeped into his exposed skin as he continued to search for her until he finally found her. She stood in the middle of the park with her back to him. It was so unlike her, just standing there like an empty shell in the middle of a park in the middle of the night.

"Temari!" Shikamaru yelled as he dropped to the ground and ran to her.

It looked like she took a sharp breath before she turned around and looked around until her confused eyes landed on him.

"Where am I?" Temari asked in a confused panic as Shikamaru came close to her.

"Your in Konoha's park." Shikamaru said as he looked at her with worried eyes.

"Why am I here? What's going on?" Temari asked her panic raising as she started breathing faster.

"Calm down, Everything is alright." Shikamaru said as he wrapped his arms around her to calm her down and to warm her up.

He was hoping she could answer the question of what's going on, but clearly, she also didn't know.

"Let's go home." Shikamaru whispered in her ear making her nod.

He swooped her up in his arms and walked home with her in his arms. Her arms were clutched tightly around his neck as she buried her face in his shoulder. He could feel her shivering against his chest. He could feel how cold her skin was from being outside with nothing warm on.

Temari fell asleep in Shikamaru's arms as he walked back. Shikamaru finally reached his house, using his shadow to open the door. He entered the house and closed the door behind him using his shadow yet again. The lights where still on meaning that Shikadai never went to bed after Shikamaru left. Shikamaru rounded the corner and saw Shikadai perk up. Shikadai stood up from the couch where he was slouching and stood up turning to face his father.

He saw his dad carrying his mom in his arms while his mom was curled in his arms. Shikadai wanted to say something but he refrained from saying anything when he saw his dad's worried face. Shikamaru sighed and walked to Shikadai.

"It's okay Shikadai. She just fell asleep on the way back. Everything is going to be okay, I'll make sure of it. Now go to sleep." Shikamaru said with a reassuring smile as he patted Shikadai's head while still holding Temari.

Shikadai gave a small smile as Shikamaru turned and walked to the master bedroom while his serious expression returned. Shikadai switched off the lights and went back to his room as he went back to sleep. Shikamaru walked in the dark as he laid Temari on the bed softly on the side she used to sleep before she was hospitalized. He pulled the covers over her shivering body and climbed into the bed next to her. Pulling her close to him so he could warm her up.

Shikamaru fell asleep with Temari in his arms, who long since stopped shivering. He'll wait until morning to question her about why she wandered off. For now, he'll sleep. He missed falling asleep with Temari in his arms.

He missed her. 

* * *

**A/N: Omg it's been such a long time since I updated, but here I am finally updating. I've been lazy and it's vacation and we got a PlayStation 4 so yeah. I always see those steamed buns in the anime and I've always wondered if it's nice and now I finally tasted one** 😝 So yeah leave a review on the chapter and let me know what you think and the next chapter will be up soon.


	5. Shadows

Light streamed over the village as the sun peeked over the horizon of the village. The light blocked by the curtains as the morning grew brighter. Temari yawned as she slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes tired as she forced them open. She felt incredibly comfortable in the bed she hadn't slept on in years. A small smile forming on her face as she turned around to see a sleeping Shikamaru next to her with an arm securely around her waist.

Temari tried to stand up quietly as she placed the arm that was around her waist on the bed while she climbed out. She stretched her arms and her back as she walked out the room and into the living room. She looked around the living room but didn't see her son. However, she didn't worry about it too much. It was the weekend so he was probably sleeping in or he was somewhere else in the house.

It made Temari feel quite sad that she didn't know her own son's tendencies. Temari ran her right hand through her hair as she walked around the house. She forgot about a few rooms or where those rooms were even though Shikamaru did show her around. She walked past Shikadai's room and saw that he was indeed still asleep just like his father.

Temari smiled slightly at her sleeping son before she decided she might as well make breakfast since her boys were still asleep. Temari walked away from the room and walked towards the kitchen, she made a few wrong turns but she did find the kitchen in the end. After all the house wasn't that big.

However, she found the kitchen but now she had to find all the stuff to make the breakfast with. Temari sighed slightly in frustration as she started looking for a pan. She literally opened each and every cupboard until she found a pan to her liking in the least cupboard she searched in. Slamming the cupboard close in irritation after she took the pan.

"Finally." Temari huffed in irritation as she placed the pan on the stove.

"Do you have to be so loud first thing in the morning?" Shikadai asked sleepily as he entered the kitchen.

"Well, you had to wake up sooner or later..." Temari shrugged as she began a new search for a spatula.

Shikadai sighed as he walked over to her.

"What are you looking for?" Shikadai asked looking up at her.

"Spatula." Temari said bluntly but didn't cease her search.

Shikadai walked to the drawers on the right of the stove and opened the drawer that was second from the top.

"You could've asked me where it was." Shikadai said as he handed the spatula to his mom.

"I would've found it sooner or later, but thanks for saving me the trouble kid." Temari said as she grinned, taking the spatula from him.

"Troublesome. Dad always did tell me how stubborn you are." Shikadai said as he fetched the oil for his mom which she took with gratitude.

She watched Shikadai carefully as she made a mental note of where she saw him get all the things she was using to make breakfast with.

"Say Shikadai, I still don't know what you're father does for a living." Temari said as she was making breakfast while Shikadai was leaning lazily against the counter next to his mom.

He would've continued sleeping when he woke up from his mom cursing in the kitchen but the truth is he couldn't remember a time he spent some time with his mother and he wanted to experience first hand how she was like. He lacked the presence of a mother ever since he could remember and now that he has a mother he wanted to spend some time with her. Even if she couldn't remember anything.

"He is the advisor for the Hokage." Shikadai answered making his mom look at him.

"That's the leader of the village, right?" Temari asked unsure which made Shikadai frown at her.

He was surprised that she couldn't even remember that.

"Yes." Shikadai answered his frown still remaining as Temari looked back at her cooking.

"Don't frown at me like that. At least I can remember how to cook." Temari shrugged making Shikadai chuckle slightly.

"What about our family? Tell me about them." Temari asked with slight fascination in her voice.

"Grandpa Shikaku died in the war but dad tells me stories about him sometimes. Grandma Yoshino is just as troublesome as you are mom, but I'm sure dad will take you to meet her. I don't know much about Grandpa Rasa and Grandma Karura except that they're both dead, dad said you never really talked about them but he did say that grandpa Rasa was the fourth Kazekage. However uncle Gaara is the Kazekage now. Uncle Kankurou is uncle Gaara's bodyguard. Both of them are your younger brothers." Shikadai explained.

"Which village does the Kazekage lead?" Temari asked.

"The village hidden in the sand, Suna for short." Shikadai answered.

"I guess I came from the sand village then. Go wake your father up, breakfast is ready." Temari said as she started to dish up while Shikadai headed for his parent's room.

Temari put the plates on the dining room table, she would've put other things on the table like knives and forks but she didn't know where they were and her trusty assistant left so she left them. Temari waited for Shikadai and Shikamaru to appear for five minutes until she sighed and walked to the master bedroom only to find her son fast asleep in her bed with her husband.

Temari's eyebrow twitched as she saw the sleeping pair. How did Shikadai end up in the bed when he had to wake Shikamaru up. Temari sighed as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Come on get up, I didn't make food for no one." Temari said irritated as she clapped her hands to wake them up.

Both the boys groaned because of the sudden sound that woke them up.

"Temari, 5 more minutes." Shikamaru groaned as he turned on his other side while Shikadai placed a pillow on his head.

"Really?" Temari asked not amused at all, but she received no reply.

"Come on, get your lazy asses out of bed." Temari said as she marched over to Shikamaru's side.

She started poking his cheek as she tried to wake him up, but nothing happened. Temari crossed her arms and pouted.

"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru said with a smirk as he grabbed her waist and pulled her on the bed between him and Shikadai.

"Shikamaru!" Temari whined as she struggled in his arms while Shikadai lifted the pillow to look at the spectacle only to laugh at them.

"Just 5 more minutes." Shikamaru said in her ear making her sigh.

"Fine, you have 5 minutes." Temari said in defeat while both Shikadai and Shikamaru smirked in victory, falling back to sleep again.

Temari waited for what felt like 5 minutes while she laid in bed between Shikadai and Shikamaru until she kicked Shikamaru out of bed followed by Shikadai. Both of them grumbling about how troublesome she was. They all sat down as they started to eat.

"I'm so glad you remember how to cook. It would've been troublesome if you didn't." Shikamaru said as Temari rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to the office today, dad?" Shikadai asked curiously as he looked at his dad.

"Depends." Shikamaru asked as he looked out the window.

"What does that mean? You either have to go or not." Temari said with a raised eyebrow as she watched Shikamaru while he just shrugged.

"Boruto said another village was attacked." Shikadai said curiously making his dad look back at him.

"And how does Boruto know that?" Shikamaru asked seriously.

"He read the files his dad fell asleep on." Shikadai answered making Shikamaru sigh while Temari watched the conversation curiously.

She wondered what these attacks where...

"That file is classified. Boruto shouldn't be reading those." Shikamaru said with a slight glare.

"Who's attacking the villages?" Temari asked as she finished eating.

Shikamaru sighed as he leaned back.

"Temari..." Shikamaru said in a tired voice.

"If it's classified you don't have to answer. I won't know who the culprit is anyway." Temari said with a small smile as she stood up and collected the plates.

She silently walked to the kitchen and started to wash the plates while Shikamaru and Shikadai went to change. Temari picked up a wet plate that she rinsed off, however, she froze as she watched the plate darken. She didn't know what was happening but the once white plate turned pitch black. Temari frowned at the plate as she examined the peculiar occurrence.

 _"Where is it?"_ The same male voice as the night before whispered.

His voice bouncing off the walls into her ears.

"What?" Temari asked in a soft confused voice.

 _"Where is it?"_ The voice said again, but this time a white symbol started to appear on the black plate.

Temari studied the symbol on the plate but something about the symbol gave her a bad feeling. A feeling that made the hairs on her neck stood up. Her breath hitched as she opened her hand, allowing gravity to take its course and pull the plate to the ground. The plate shattered on the ground in a deafening crash. The white symbol scattered on the broken black plate. Temari watched the symbol with wide eyes as it started moving.

"What happened?" A worried voice asked from the door making Temari look up at the source.

Shikamaru stood at the door with a worried expression, his shoulder-length hair now in a high pony. Temari looked from Shikamaru back to the broken plate. However, the plate wasn't black anymore. The plate was now just another white plate again.

"It's okay Temari, it's just a plate. I can buy a new one. What happened?" Shikamaru asked as he walked towards her.

"Nothing, I just dropped the plate. That's all." Temari said as she bent down to pick up the broken pieces of the plate.

"Leave it, I've got it." Shikamaru said as he bent down to pick up the pieces.

Temari sighed as she stood up and leaned on the counter. Staring at the water in the sink with wide eyes and a frown. What was happening? Was she losing her mind?

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Shikamaru asked as he picked up the pieces.

"I told you nothing happened." Temari answered not taking her eyes off the water.

Shikamaru stood up and threw away all the broken pieces then walked towards Temari and watched her back.

"Do you want to tell me what happened last night?" Shikamaru asked with his hands in his pockets.

"Last night? What happened last night?" Temari asked confused as she turned around to look at him.

Shikamaru's frown deepened as he saw her confused face. She doesn't remember what happened. Shikamaru watched her confused eyes. Shikamaru had a feeling that something unnatural caused Temari to sleepwalk. Something like a genjutsu. This worried Shikamaru immensely, was she the next?

"Nothing happened last night." Shikamaru said not wanting to alarm her.

She's fragile at the moment.

"It doesn't sound like nothing happened." Temari said with a raised eyebrow.

Shikamaru sighed and was about to respond but there was a knock on the door making both Temari and Shikamaru look into the direction of the door.

"I'll get it." Shikamaru said as he walked to the door leaving Temari at the sink.

Temari watched as Shikamaru left. She may have amnesia but she was still curious as to who was at the door. Temari walked to the hall and peaked her head around the corner as she watched Shikamaru open the front door. She saw two men stand at the front door. One with a smirk and the other one with the most expressionless face Temari has ever seen.

The emotionless man had vivid red hair and dark circles around his eyes while the other man had brown hair with purple stripes on his face. What an odd bunch...

"I knew you two would've shown up sooner or later." Shikamaru said as he greeted them.

Stepping aside to let the two men in. They walked in the house while the brown-haired man left two big scrolls at the door. Temari was curious as to what was in those scrolls. The red-haired man, on the other hand, left a small gourd made of sand next to the brown-haired man's scrolls.

"I guess Naruto told you that Temari woke up." Shikamaru said with a small smile.

"Indeed." The red-haired man answered.

"How could we not come to see our big sister awake and kicking again." The brown-haired man said as he laughed.

"Big sister?" Temari asked surprised as she made her presence known while walking to the group.

"These are your younger brothers. The one with the ridiculous amount of face paint is Kankurou and the red-haired one is your youngest brother Gaara." Shikamaru said as he introduced her to her brothers while Kankurou scoffed and glared at Shikamaru.

"Temari, it's good to finally see you out of your coma." Gaara said with a small smile.

"It's good to be out of it I guess." Temari said with a shrug.

"Not that it's not fun to stand or anything but why don't we sit down?" Temari asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I have to go to the office, you guys go ahead." Shikamaru said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Tell Naruto hi for me." Gaara said as he looked at Shikamaru.

"I'll tell him you're in town. You're probably going to see him later anyway." Shikamaru said with a shrug as he walked over to Temari.

Shikamaru lightly kissed her on her forehead which surprised her.

"Stay safe." Shikamaru whispered on her forehead before he turned around and headed for the door.

"Watch her for me please." Shikamaru said softly as he passed Kankurou and Gaara so that only they heard him.

Gaara gave Shikamaru a nod making a mental note to ask him why she needed to be watched. It made him wonder if his big sister was in trouble. Shikamaru gave the group a last smile as he closed the door behind him. He needed to talk to Naruto but he didn't want to go when Temari was alone at the house. Sure Shikadai was there and it's not like he didn't trust his son but he was still just a seven year old.

Shikamaru walked to Naruto's office with his hands in his pockets as he watched the clouds drift lazily past him. Naruto gave him time off when he came back from examining the village outside of Konoha and he intended to use the little vacation to its fullest and not work at all, but Shikamaru wanted to talk to Naruto.

It didn't take Shikamaru that long to get to the office but he was walking faster than usual because he wanted to get back to Temari. She's been in a coma for five years he wanted to spend time with her. Shikamaru knocked on the Hokage's door before he entered. Waiting for Naruto to say enter before he entered.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto said happily as he saw his friend enter the office.

Shikamaru smirked, the poor bastard probably thought he was here to help him with his paperwork. Sure he had sympathy for his friend, but if he was given time off he's going to use it.

"How are you holding up?" Shikamaru asked as he stood in front of his desk that was drowning in paperwork.

Shikamaru had to admit this place was a lot messier when he wasn't around.

"Define holding up..." Naruto said with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair.

"I don't suppose you're here to help me with my paperwork..." Naruto asked with hope in his voice only for Shikamaru to crush his hopes a second later.

"Nope. Gaara is in town by the way." Shikamaru said nonchalantly.

"I'll go see him later in the day. How's Temari?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"She's doing well for someone who has amnesia... However, something's going on and I have a feeling it's linked with the massacred villages." Shikamaru said as his facial expression hardened.

"How is Temari linked with massacred villages when she just woke up from a 5-year coma?" Naruto asked confused.

"I'm not sure yet, but something is wrong with her. However, I can't put my finger on what yet." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"What is wrong with her?" Naruto asked concerned.

"She seems distant at times like she's seeing things almost and last night she sleepwalked. I found her in the park and when I asked her about it today she had no memory of it ever happening. I asked her if something is wrong but she says it's nothing, but I know she's lying to me." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"I still don't see the connection..." Naruto said messaging he's forehead where a headache was starting to form.

"Just before I found her at the park I sensed someone's presence before it vanished a split second later." Shikamaru said as concern danced in his eyes.

"You think that person massacred the villages?" Naruto asked as he leaned forward.

"No, but I think he may have a connection." Shikamaru answered.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"That village you sent me to investigate... Those people got killed by one of their own. All those villages had one thing in common. They all had a shinobi that was in a coma then suddenly woke up. That shinobi that woke up from their comas massacred their entire village then they killed themselves right after." Shikamaru said as he explained to Naruto.

"What's their motives then?" Naruto asked confused.

"My best guess is that someone was controlling them. That or they all had mental illnesses." Shikamaru said with a shrug.

"And now you think the culprit is in our village?" Naruto asked.

"Why else would someone mask their presence in the middle of the night?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Pissed girlfriend, insane stalker, stalking someone... I can go on." Naruto said amused.

"It sounds like you're talking from experience." Shikamaru said as he laughed.

"Even so, it may be just one of those things you mentioned. But I don't think it is..." Shikamaru said as he turned back serious.

"I trust your instincts, I'll send shinobi to sweep the village. If there is someone in this village that's not supposed to be here well find him." Naruto said in a determined tone.

"I'll keep you informed." Shikamaru said as he walked to the door.

"Shikamaru..." Naruto called making Shikamaru turn back to Naruto.

"It's good to see you laughing again." Naruto said with a sincere smile.

"What do you mean? I never stopped laughing." Shikamaru said knowing full well he saw right through him.

"Your weak attempts at laughing wasn't fooling anyone." Naruto said with a scoff.

Shikamaru smirked back at his friend then turned back around and left the office leaving his friend to deal with all the paperwork as he closed the door behind him.

Shikamaru didn't know whether Temari waking up from her coma at a time like this was just a coincidence or was she the next puppet. However Shikamaru never really believed in coincidences, sure they happened, but most of the times something pushed them to happen. Or someone...

 **xXx**

"Nue, you said you wanted to play with the leaf village some more. What did you have in mind?" Leshy asked seriously as he looked across at the man who played around with a lollipop in his mouth.

"Oh, that sounds interesting." A woman with red hair said nonchalantly as she yawned.

The man in the shadows smirked as his purple eyes shone eerily as it caught the light in the room, his raven hair gleaming as he stepped into the light.

"I'll have to think what I want to do Leshy. Oi Joro, you got any ideas?" Nue asked as he looked over at the black haired beauty.

"Sorry love, I'm fresh out of ideas." A woman said with little interest as she tended to her nails.

"I knew I should've asked Mara instead." Nue said with an irritated sigh as he twirled the lollipop in his fingers.

"How about a tournament of some sorts. Something called the shadow games? I like the ring to that." Nue said as he propped a lollipop in his mouth.

"Mmmm sounds fun." Joro said in a husky voice.

"You know Nue, ever since you stopped smoking you've been going at that lollipops non-stop." A red-haired woman commented.

"Shut up, Mara." Nue growled.

Nue fell into the chair behind him in exaggeration. The pieces where all falling into place. A wicked grin graced his lips as he crushed the bright red lollipop beneath his teeth. 

* * *

**A/N: Pum, pum, pum! New villains :D This is totally irrelevant but Izumi makes me depressed and how Itachi killed her :(... Omg guys I ate ramen today. I've always wanted to try ramen because Naruto eats it constantly so yeah. Anyway, I want to thank everyone for their reviews and kind words about this story. You guys are really encouraging and I'm glad you find the story interesting :P**


	6. Connections

Sakura sighed as she leaned back in her chair, Temari's case was frustrating her so much. Sakura had discovered that Temari's amnesia is, in fact, curable, however, that underlying problem was the key to lifting Temari's amnesia. She knew it. Sakura rubbed her temples, it was like there was a wall preventing her to find out what the underlying problem was. Sakura stood up, she needed a break. She needed to clear her mind. She's been overworking herself trying to figure out what the underlying problem was but no matter how much she searched she couldn't find it. Sakura left her work on the desk and left the lab, not bothering to take her lab coat off.

She needed a change of pace, maybe then she'll find her underlying problem. Sakura walked through the village with her hands in her lab coat, allowing her feet to take her wherever. However, she knew exactly where her feet took her and it was good timing as well since it was about lunchtime. Sasuke's been a real help since he came back to the village. However, she wondered what he was doing back in the village since his mission wasn't done yet, but she assumed it was because of the recent massacred village. He's been taking care of Sarada in her absence while she worked at the hospital. It may be nice to spend some time with Sarada since he doesn't get to see her often.

"Sakura." A voice called as Sakura walked, making her stop and look at the person who called her name.

"Oh, hi Ino." Sakura greeted as she stopped to look at her friend.

"You look stressed." Ino noted as she walked up to Sakura.

"I am. It just feels like there is a wall blocking me from finding the answers I need." Sakura said with a sigh.

"Sounds rough, are you taking enough breaks and getting enough sleep?" Ino asked with worry.

"Probably not, but I'm taking a break right now." Sakura said as she shrugged.

"I can see that." Ino said bluntly as she pointed at her lab coat that she was still wearing

"You know what we should do? We should all go for lunch tomorrow. Just us girls. We haven't gotten together in a while. Temari can even join us since she's out of her coma." Ino said with a smile as her excitement started to rise.

"That sounds great. Just remember to introduce yourself to Temari first. She has..." Sakura said with worry, but Ino interrupted her.

"Amnesia, I know. Inojin told me." Ino said with exaggeration.

"And how does he know?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Boruto interrogated Shikadai in class, so everyone in Shikadai's class knows that Temari's out of a coma and has amnesia." Ino said as she laughed slightly with a sweat drop.

"That poor boy." Sakura said with a small smile.

"Well, I should get going. I'll let the others know. Take care of yourself Sakura." Ino said with a smile as she walked off.

"Yeah, you too." Sakura said as she waved to Ino then walked further.

She was close now. Close to her home. She walked to her house and opened the front door as she arrived.

"I'm home." Sakura called as she closed the door and walked to the kitchen where she knew those two would probably be.

"Welcome home, mama." Sarada said with a smile as she looked at Sakura.

Sasuke also gave her a smile before he returned to the food he was preparing. Sakura walked over to Sasuke and peeked over his shoulder at what he was making.

"Tomato sandwiches. I should've known." Sakura said amused while Sasuke only shrugged.

"Can I help you?" Sakura asked.

"It's fine, you've been working hard. Sit and I'll make you one." Sasuke said making Sakura smile and sit down next to her daughter.

"I've been wondering, papa. How do you cut the tomatoes with only one arm?" Sarada asked curiously.

"I infuse the blade with lightning chakra which makes it sharper so it won't bounce around." Sasuke said quite proud of himself.

"You should've seen him when he first lost his arm. He wanted to do everything himself so I was not allowed to help, he got so frustrated the one time that he used his Susanoo just to cut the tomato." Sakura said as she laughed while Sasuke rolled his eyes at the memory.

"Did he cut the tomato with his Susanoo?" Sarada asked with a raised eyebrow, already knowing what a Susanoo is thanks to the book about her clan.

"Not only did he cut the tomato but he cut the cupboard clean in half as well." Sakura said while Sasuke brought the sandwiches over.

"The tomato was irritating me more than Naruto." Sasuke said with a grunt as he sat down taking his tomato sandwich.

"All the girls are eating lunch tomorrow." Sakura said as she looked at Sasuke while eating her own sandwich.

"I'm hoping you're going." Sasuke said as he looked over at her.

"Of course, it's been years since all of us could be together." Sakura replied with a smile.

"What are you planning on doing?" Sakura asked as she changed the subject.

"I want to go talk to Naruto then I'm going to train Sarada and Boruto." Sasuke said.

"You've taken quite a liking to Boruto." Sakura noted with a sly smirk.

"No, not really. He just doesn't want to leave me alone. Blabbering about wanting to become stronger than Naruto." Sasuke said with a sigh which made Sakura chuckle.

"He just wants some of Naruto's attention." Sakura answered.

"Well, he can do that without irritating me." Sasuke said rolling his eyes while Sarada nodded in agreement.

"Now you're being mean Sasuke." Sakura said as she laughed.

"I'm training him, aren't I?" Sasuke said with a sigh as he continued eating his sandwich.

However, he didn't miss the troubled frown on Sarada's face.

 **xXx**

Shikamaru opened the front door and walked into his home. He found the sand siblings in the living room. Normally Kankurou would entertain Shikadai when he was here but instead he decided to join the conversation which was understandable, he hasn't talked to his sister in five years after all. Shikamaru didn't see Shikadai around so he assumed he was with Boruto, either trying to keep him out of trouble or getting dragged into it. Shikamaru was just at the living room doorway when he heard a knock on the front door. The sand siblings looked towards the door, spotting Shikamaru as well.

"You're back." Temari noted as she stood up to get the door.

"Sit, I'll get it." Shikamaru said while Temari sat back down.

"That's smarter I guess." Temari said with a shrug as she sat back down while Shikamaru turned and headed back to the front door, Gaara eyeing him while he walked away.

Shikamaru opened the door to reveal his blond teammate. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in surprise. He wasn't expecting her to show up at his door at all.

"Ino, what are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked with slight exaggeration in his voice.

"Don't sound so troubled by my presence." Ino said rolling her eyes at him.

"But I am troubled by your presence and besides I'm still waiting for my answer." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"Can't I visit a friend." Ino asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You only ever visit when you want something from me." Shikamaru replied.

"Fair enough." Ino said as she shrugged making Shikamaru sigh.

"Well, are you going to let me in or not?" Ino asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"Is that a choice?" Shikamaru asked slightly hopeful that it was.

"Don't be rude." Ino said with an angry scoff as she pushed past him which made him sigh as he closed the door behind her.

"Where's Temari?" Ino asked as she walked through his house.

"She's with Gaara and Kankurou in the living room." Shikamaru answered as he followed her.

"Oh, they're here?" Ino asked surprised.

"Yeah, why wouldn't they be here?" Shikamaru countered just before Ino burst through the living room.

"Temari! It's been so long since I've talked to you." Ino said dramatically, startling Temari while Gaara and Kankurou snapped their heads to her, Gaara's mouth still open from speaking but he quickly closed it.

Shikamaru groaned as he facepalmed. She just interrupted the Kazekage.

"Who's this?" Temari asked as she looked at Shikamaru.

She looked ready to attack Ino if she came any closer.

"This is Ino Yamanaka, she's one of our friends." Shikamaru said in exaggeration.

Temari could see in his eyes that he thought this blond woman was troublesome, but to be fair she realised that he thought everyone was troublesome.

"That's right, Sakura told me about your amnesia and that I should introduce myself first, but I got too carried away." Ino said sheepishly.

Shikamaru leant against the door frame while Ino went and sat next to a bewildered Temari. He felt sorry for Temari, but he found her bewilderment slightly amusing.

"You're quite rude, you know." Kankurou said as he looked at Ino.

"Excuse me." Ino replied angrily as she started arguing with Kankurou which made Shikamaru sigh and Temari's eyebrow to twitch.

Gaara stood up in the midst of the chaos and walked over to Shikamaru without anyone but Shikamaru noticing.

"You owe me an explanation." Gaara said subtly as he stood next to Shikamaru with crossed arms as they both watched the arguing bunch.

Temari now also part of the argument.

"Anyway, what do you want?" Temari asked irritably as she glared at Ino.

"I think Temari may be caught in something serious." Shikamaru said with his hands in his pockets, his eyes not leaving Temari.

"Oh right, the girls and I are having lunch tomorrow and you're coming along." Ino said as she perked up making Kankurou roll his eyes.

"And what may that be?" Gaara asked Shikamaru with slight curiosity in his voice.

"Are you forcing me to go to lunch with a bunch of people I don't know?" Temari asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's related to the failed boat mission and the massacres. You know about the massacred villages, right?" Shikamaru asked as he glanced at Gaara.

"I'm not forcing you to do anything, I'm inviting you." Ino said as she rolled her eyes.

"Naruto had mentioned it before." Gaara answered, urging him to continue.

"Well, you have a funny way of _askin_ g." Kankurou said with a scoff as he looked at Ino.

"I believe the prisoner that escaped that night is the cause of the massacres and that he's in the village." Shikamaru said with troubled eyes.

"Shut up Kankurou. Are you coming to lunch or not Temari?" Ino asked as she looked at Temari.

"But what does that have to do with Temari?" Gaara asked with a troubled look.

"I guess so, I have to meet the people I knew eventually." Temari said as she shrugged, looking over at Shikamaru.

Her eyebrows knitted together as she watched Shikamaru talk with her youngest brother. They seemed to be talking about something serious judging by Shikamaru's face. He usually wore a bored expression on his face, but now that bored expression was gone and replaced by a much more serious and troubled one.

"This is pure speculation but I think he's somehow causing Temari to see things." Shikamaru said looking out the window.

"Why Temari?" Gaara asked watching the group in the living room.

"I don't know but she shows all the same symptoms of the people who massacred their villages." Shikamaru replied, his hands slightly balling into a fist in his pockets.

"Fantastic, I'll see you tomorrow then." Ino said happily as she stood up followed by Temari.

"Just so you know Shikamaru, the twins broke out of Suna's prison." Gaara said surprising Shikamaru, making him look at him.

"Goodbye everyone." Ino greeted as she passed Shikamaru and Gaara.

"Bye Ino." Shikamaru greeted as he turned his gaze away from Gaara and to Ino while Temari walked Ino to the door to be polite.

"You mean the orphans that Temari taught before her coma?" Shikamaru asked looking back at Gaara.

"Are you talking about the missing twins?" Kankurou asked injecting himself into the conversation.

"Yes." Gaara replied to both questions.

"How did they escape?" Shikamaru asked.

"We don't know how they got out, but they left a trail of bodies in their wake. However, a civilian reported seeing a black haired woman going into the prison before they broke out." Gaara stated.

"Who's the woman?" Shikamaru asked curiously.

"We don't know. All three of them disappeared without a trace. It's like they never existed in the first place." Gaara replied as they heard the front door close.

"What's more is the Raikage has reported one of their shinobi has gone rogue. He uses a special jutsu he created himself to control his victims. It's like Kankurou's puppet jutsu mixed with Ino's mind control jutsu. He can control an individual's mind without inserting his consciousness into his victim." Gaara explained.

"What's his name?" Shikamaru asked as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"His name is Leshy. He's an S-rank missing-nin." Gaara said as his eyes turned to Shikamaru.

"Looks like someone is creating a merry band of their own... However, that jutsu of the rogue nin is a very interesting jutsu." Shikamaru said as his eyes narrowed even more.

He knew that look. It was a look that Gaara grew to know very well. It meant Shikamaru knew something they didn't.

"Shikamaru, what do you know?" Gaara asked in a firm tone as he narrowed his eyes at him slightly.

Shikamaru's eyes turned to Gaara as the two men stared at each other. The air was tense as silence filled the room.

"Just speculation." Shikamaru said and he finally answered Gaara's question just as Temari joined them again.

She looked at the men in the room, she could tell something was wrong by how tense everyone was, but she just sighed and let it go.

"We probably should go and find a place to stay before it's too late." Gaara said as Kankurou stood up.

Shikamaru walked them to the door with Temari.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Temari." Gaara said before he walked out the door.

"Stay out of trouble." Kankurou grinned as he followed his little brother.

"Of course, I'm always staying out of trouble." Temari said as she rolled her eyes making Shikamaru cough slightly while Kankurou sweatdropped.

"What, you have something to say?" Temari said as she glared at Shikamaru who stood next to her.

"No, nothing at all." Shikamaru said as he gulped and looked away.

"If you say so Temari." Kankurou said while chuckling as he and Gaara walked away.

Shikamaru closed the door and sighed once Kankurou and Gaara was finally gone.

"I thought they'd never leave." Shikamaru said in a tired voice.

"What? You have something against my brothers?" Temari asked with a raised eyebrow as she watched Shikamaru leaning against the door.

"No, people in general, are troublesome, but not as troublesome as you." Shikamaru said with a smirk as he looked over at her.

"Excuse you." Temari said annoyed as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"But I still love you." Shikamaru said with a smile as he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her neck, kissing her forehead before he pulled her close to him.

"If you ask me, I'd say you're the troublesome one." Temari said in exaggeration, however she couldn't help herself from smiling.

"Yet you agreed to marry me." Shikamaru said amused.

"So it seems." Temari said softly as she uncrossed her arms.

Shikamaru didn't let go of her and to be honest Temari didn't mind.

"Do you think I should go to that lunch tomorrow?" Temari asked as she leaned her head against Shikamaru's shoulder wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I think it would be good for you to meet people you knew and if you're worried about Ino she's harmless, just obnoxious." Shikamaru said with a gentle voice.

"I noticed." Temari said as she laughed slightly.

"I'm assuming you probably know everyone that's going." Temari said as she looked up at him.

"Yeah, she probably already invited Sakura, Hinata, Tenten and Karui." Shikamaru answered as he walked to the sofa while taking Temari's hands in his and leading her to the couch.

"Tell me about them." Temari said as Shikamaru slouched in the couch while pulling Temari into his lap not releasing her hands.

"Alright then, we'll start with the ones you already met. Sakura is the medic-nin you met, she might be extremely skilled in medic ninjutsu but she packs a mean punch and we usually try to avoid that. She's destroyed numerous houses much to Sasuke's irritation, but he bears it because they're married. But when I say destroy houses I mean everything is in rubble. She was trained by the leaf village's fifth Hokage that's where she got her monstrous strength and skill in medical ninjutsu. Before the great shinobi war, she was on a team with Sasuke and our current Hokage." Shikamaru explained.

"I can't imagine someone destroying their own house on accident." Temari said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I think Sasuke is used to it by now. The next is Karui. She's married to Chouji, he's my best friend. She originally came from the village hidden in the clouds. She migrated here when she married Chouji. Chouji was on a team with Ino and I. Ino is obnoxious and just plain troublesome but you get used to her after knowing her a long time. She's married to Sai. He was on a team with Sakura and the current Hokage for a while. Next is Hinata. She belongs to the Huyga clan but she's married to the Hokage now, she's kind and gentle and was on a team with Kiba and Shino, Shino is a teacher at the academy now and teaches class to Shikadai. Last but not least is Tenten, she never got married or had any kids but she opened her own weapon shop. In my honest opinion, I think she never really got over Neji's death. She just never loved anyone the way she loved Neji." Shikamaru said as he leaned his head in her shoulder.

"That's understandable, how do you ever get over someone you love? You might move on but I don't think you ever get over it." Temari said softly.

"I think you're right." Shikamaru said as he stroked his thumb over her hand.

Shikamaru looked at their hands, he never really thought he'd be able to hold her like this again.

 **xXx**

"Pappa, I need to ask you something." Sarada said as she approached her father.

Sasuke was sitting at the dining room table reading reports about the massacred villages while Sakura was reading a medical book in their bedroom.

"What is it?" Sasuke said as he looked at his daughter while covering the documents so she couldn't read them.

"I don't quite know how to explain it, but earlier today I was speaking to mama and showed her my Sharingan but when I showed her my Sharingan I saw something strange." Sarada said as she started her story which made Sasuke perk up in interest.

"I could be wrong but I saw something in mama's eyes that almost looked like a genjutsu, but it was only for a split second. I found that really strange because mama doesn't use genjutsu." Sarada said as she mused.

"That is strange indeed. I'll look into it." Sasuke said as he pondered things.

What Sarada said to him definitely concerned him because he had to admit that strange things were going on in this land recently. Sasuke stood up and walked to his wife. He activated his Sharingan as he walked into the room. Sakura didn't look up from her reading so he sat next to her on the bed where she was lying on.

"How's the reading going?" Sasuke asked as she looked up at him.

"I still can't find out what I want to know, why is your Sharingan activated?" Sakura said with a confused frown.

"I didn't realise it was activated. What exactly are you trying to find?" Sasuke said as he ran his hand down her leg, rubbing her leg in a soothing way.

"Show off and I'm not exactly sure but I'm certain I'd know once I find it." Sakura said going back to her reading, not noticing Sasuke didn't deactivate his Sharingan.

"Good luck then." Sasuke said as he stood up and kissed her forehead before he left the room.

"And?" Sarada asked by the door as Sasuke exited the room.

"I need to talk to Naruto." Sasuke said with a concerned look.

"It's too late to go now." Sarada said, her eyebrows knitted together in worry.

"You're right, I'll go tomorrow." Sasuke said as he sighed slightly.

He saw it... Someone was controlling Sakura's mind.

* * *

 **A/N: So it's been a really long time but here's another chapter.** **I've been so busy and I don't want to write stuff just to post fast. I want to write a story that people find interesting so yeah. I hope you enjoyed the story and I apologize for taking a year to post a chapter. **


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